A Food Nerd's Guide to Disney World
Don’t go to Disney World for the food. Go to Paris for the food. Come to Brooklyn for the food. Go to Disney for the rides and princess-sightings. Go to Disney for a brat burger that looks like a frog head, with olive eyes, a pickle tongue, and a side of tater tots.
The Wild Toad Brat Burger (pictured above) can be purchased at the Friar’s Nook in the Magic Kingdom, right across from the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. You don’t need a reservation. For added convenience, you can place your food order on your phone and pick it up when it’s ready.
We recently spent 5 days at Disney World’s 4 parks and ate a lot of serviceable meals and snacks and drinks, but there were definitely some stand-outs. The best bites and sips were as fun and wacky as Disney World itself. Here we go:
What to Eat at Citrico’s at the Grand Floridian
Citrus-Cured Hamachi at Citrico’s in the Grand Floridian Disney World Resort. Photo: Kara Zuaro
This peachy-pink Citrus-Cured Hamachi served in a turquoise bowl at Citrico’s looks like it could be Ariel’s favorite dish, though I suppose the Little Mermaid doesn’t eat fish. In any case, citrusy slices of fresh yellowtail sit in a pool of salty-sweet-spicy passion fruit nuoc cham, with bits of tropical star fruit, peppery coins of watermelon radish, and a crunchy garnish of blood orange puffed tapioca oil. It’s the perfect example of a Disney meal-starter that balances fancy fare with theme park fun.
To eat it, you’ve got to book a reservation at Citrico’s at the Grand Floridian, which is accessible via the Monorail. With two kids in tow, traveling out of our way for dinner was kind of a drag, but we since we were already staying here, this one worked for us.
What to Eat in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
Peka Tuna Poke from Docking Bay 7 at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Photo: Kara Zuaro
Real Talk: I did not grow up with Star Wars in my life, so I do not understand the post-apocalyptic junkyard aesthetic of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney's Hollywood Studios. (I mean, what’s the appeal and where were the Ewoks? Did I miss the Ewoks?)
That said, the Peka Tuna Poke at Docking Bay 7 was my favorite lunch from the entire trip. I was craving some spicy, nourishing food, and this fit the bill. A scoop of real-deal papaya salad —cool, sour, tangy, refreshing—was nestled into a few big, crisp lettuce leaves and topped with fresh tuna, tossed in a fiery sriracha dressing. Pickled mushrooms, crispy bits that seemed like beet chips, and a sprinkling of Thai basil and mint leaves kicked up the flavors.
Fried Chicken Tip Yip Youngling Meals from Docking Bay 7 at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Photo: Kara Zuaro
My traditionalist kids happily ate mac and cheese every day (sometimes twice), but they weren’t thrilled with their Fried Chicken Tip Yip Youngling Meals at Docking Bay 7. I appreciated the effort to make a basic kids meal look kinda Star-Warsy. Here, the crispy chicken is served as a space-age rectangular nugget, over a bed of steamed broccoli and mac and cheese shells. It came with a Dasani water with the label written in Aurebesh, the Galactic alphabet from Star Wars.
This is another quick-service spot, so you can order on your phone, pick up your food, and grab a table inside or out in a courtyard. Super convenient.
What Not to Order at Oga’s Cantina
Oga’s Cantina at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Photo: Kara Zuaro
If you are able to get a reservation at Oga’s Cantina at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge (see our Pro Tip below), beware of the Rancor Beer Flight Souvenir Board with Four Teeth. One of the strangers in our booth didn’t read the menu carefully and was bummed to be charged $85 for a beer sampler and a take-home set of ceramic tooth glasses that he didn’t really want to carry around the park (though he may have been able to make a profit by selling that rancor tooth beer flight set on eBay).
I have to admit that the Batuu Bits (“Crispy Galaxy Snack Bits with Spiced Chermoula Dip”) made a weirdly delicious bar snack. It was dark in there, but I’m pretty sure the snack mix involved salted and spiced dehydrated vegetables—green beans, carrot slices, lotus root—plus seaweed chips and surprising little bits of chocolate meringue.
Both the non-alcoholic kid drinks, topped with popping pearls, and the grown-up drinks (like the gingery, margarita-esque Dagobah Slug Slinger) were a bit sweet for our taste, but you’re really here for the atmosphere. Personally, I found it odd to be squished into a booth with my kids and two other adult parties in a faux-dank Star Wars bar, but again, I’m not the target audience for this stuff!
Pro tip: Since we were staying at a Disney World Resort hotel, we were able to book dining reservations for the entirety of our stay 60 days out from the date of our check-in. My husband was online at 5:45am to score reservations at hot spots like Oga’s Cantina and Cinderella’s Royal Table by booking 60+ days in advance. “Aim for the hardest reservations at the end of your stay. Folks who will be arriving before you already had access to the earlier days of your trip when their trip windows opened up,” he says.
What to Drink in Pandora
Night Blossom Slushy from Pongu Pongu in Pandora — World of Avatar in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Photo: Kara Zuaro
The overall trippiness of Pandora — The World of Avatar in Animal Kingdom can be distilled into a glass. The Night Blossom, a non-alcoholic frozen drink from Pongu Pongu involves Slurpee-like layers green apple and magenta desert-pear limeade with a topping of emerald pop-in-your-mouth Boba Balls. It’s very sweet, but also very tasty, and you can also order if as a Rum Blossom if you want a shot of Bacardi in your slushy.
Where to Get More Dole Whip Flavors
Orange Cream Soft-Serve Cup from Sunshine Tree Terrace in Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom. Photo: Kara Zuaro
I’m a pineapple-adverse weirdo, but I love a Creamsicle soft-serve. There are plenty of places that offer Pineapple Dole Whip throughout the parks, but if you just want a basic array of soft serve flavors, head over to Sunshine Tree Terrace in Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom. Ramona got a strawberry float, but the winner here was the Orange Cream Soft-Serve Cup, made with a swirl of Dole Whip Orange and Vanilla—that classic is hard to beat!
Best Kid Food at Cinderella’s Royal Table
Make your own cupcake at Cinderella’s Royal Table in Disney World. Photo: Kara Zuaro
Cinderella’s Royal Table is an incredibly hard table to book! (See our Pro Tip in the Oga’s Cantina section above!) It was also the one place where our table wasn’t ready for us until about 30 minutes after our reserved time, which almost made us miss our Lighting Lane pass for Space Mountain. And they definitely didn’t serve the best food of the trip. However, if you’ve ever dreamed of climbing up into the iconic castle, this will grant your wish. (But be warned that the dining room will not be filled with glamorous princes and princesses; it will be filled with cranky children and tired parents. Just sayin’.)
The best part of our meal here was the Build-Your-Own-Cupcake from the kids’ dessert menu. It’s just a vanilla cupcake with blue icing and some sparkly sprinkles to decorate it, but it brought Ramona almost as much joy as meeting Cindy on the way in.
Where to Eat in DinoLand U.S.A.
Foot-long hot dogs at Restaurantosaurus in DinoLand U.S.A. in Disney’s Animal Kindgom. Photo: Kara Zuaro
All my kids ever want to eat is mac and cheese, hot dogs, and french fries. Disney World gave them this, all day, every day. We were trying to eat outside as much as possible, so the covered back patio at Restaurantosaurus in Animal Kingdom’s DinoLand U.S.A. served us well. The kids ate foot-long hot dogs, I had a perfectly fine Cobb salad, and Ramona sucked down a 50th Anniversary Celebration Milk Shake, a vanilla shake loaded with strawberry syrup, rimmed with buttercream frosting and Fruit Pebble, and topped with whipped cream and a rainbow-sprinkled sugar cookie. YOLO, right?
Best Cocktail in Disney World
The Backscratcher tiki drink at Kona Cafe in Disney World’s Polynesian Resort. Photo: Kara Zuaro
The Backscratcher is a potent tiki drink—a concoction of light rum, dark rum, guava juice, passion fruit juice, and whiskey. At the Kona Cafe in the Polynesian Resort, it comes with an actual bamboo backscratcher, to ensure you get that hard-to-reach itch. Again, the territory between silly, fun, and sweet is where Disney really shines.
We made a reservation for this spot and then had to take an Uber there because a flash storm shut down the monorail. When we got there, it felt a little bit like eating in a mall food court. The food was nothing to write home about, but the drinks—particularly this very boozy drink—made it worth our while.
Are Disney Club Level Rooms Worth It?
We stayed on the Club Level of the Grand Floridian Resort, and we found it to be worth the extra cost. For two picky kids who require a lot of snacks, the Club Level buffet was a godsend. Reserving tables and ride passes is stressful, so it was the best thing ever to have a selection of food waiting for us when we got up in the morning and whenever we came back to our room.
If I knew how convenient and delicious it would be, I would’ve made fewer reservations and planned on eating more of our meals here. The fare was light and surprisingly good. And to be honest, I don’t like to eat two heavy, sit-down meals per day, as we often do on vacation. The little club level bites — soup and crackers, a bite of salmon, a taste of short ribs—were perfect for me.
Pictured above, from left to right: I deeply enjoyed an orange petit four with a cup of caramel tea before bedtime one night. The second photo shows Ramona helping herself to a breakfast of champions, which you can see in picture number three: Froot Loops, a sugar-topped muffin, and a pile of salami slices and cheddar triangles.
Save room for dessert at Citrico’s in the Grand Floridian Disney World Resort. Photo: Kara Zuaro
If you’re planning a trip to Disney World, I hope you stuff yourself with fun and enjoy it to the last overwhelmingly sweet bite!
